Comprised of only a dozen employees, Mapsense is “able to sort through massive geotagged datasets to create quick geographical visualizations of location-based data points that can be embedded into apps.”

Put more simply, Mapsense can collect and analyze location data from billions of devices and present that information in a simple, readable way.

The original intent behind Mapsense was to provide businesses with highly accurate location information to better plan and refine marketing strategies. And with Apple’s boilerplate response to questions about the acquisition — “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans” — plans for how AAPL will be using Mapsense’s technology and resources remain a mystery.

Is Apple Maps About to Get an Update?

When it launched in 2012, Apple Maps was an utter disappointment. Many iPhone owners complained about incorrect navigation, distorted displays, confusing search results and a host of other problems that made the app inferior to alternate software, such as Google Maps.

AAPL has spent the past three years trying to update and improve Apple Maps by adding features that Google (GOOG, GOOGL) has long since included in Google Maps — the program typically considered the paradigm of mobile mapping software.

Also earlier this year, AAPL began collecting street-level images in several major cities to better compete with Google’s Street View, a feature that allows users to see actual 360-degree panoramic views of their destinations.

Mapsense is the latest in a string of location technology companies being snatched up by AAPL in an attempt to catch up to Google Maps. But how much of the technology developed by Mapsense will end up enhancing Apple Maps, and how long will it take for those enhancements to reach iPhone owners?

Bottom Line

Considering the staggering number of iPhone owners around the world, Apple is most definitely a force to be reckoned with, and it’s no surprise that AAPL wants to rid the iPhone of Google Maps. It’s nothing short of a jab in the eye for Apple when customers turn to its No. 1 competitor for mapping and navigation software.

Unfortunately for AAPL, Apple Maps — at this point, at least — is well behind Google Maps in terms of features and functionality, and it’s unlikely to catch up in the foreseeable future. AAPL purchased a number of location-based companies, each of which possesses good technology that has the potential to complement the Apple Maps program, but AAPL is simply too slow to integrate those features.